Flipkart stake marked down 15% by T Rowe Price

T Rowe Price's markdown of its Flipkart shares is part of a global trend, as the mutual fund has slashed value of world's most valued startups like ride hailing start up Uber Technologies and home rental website AirBnB.Madhav Chanchani | ET Bureau | Updated: April 16, 2016, 09:32 IST

T Rowe Price had first invested in the Bengaluru-based in December 2014, when the e-tailer announced a $700 million round of funding which also participation from sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority and Hong Kong-based hedge fund Steadview Capital.

T Rowe Price's markdown of its Flipkart shares is part of a global trend, as the mutual fund has slashed value of world's most valued startups like ride hailing start up Uber Technologies and home rental website AirBnB.

T Rowe marked the value of its Flipkart shares at $120.69 per unit, according to its filings made for March quarter, as compared to the value of $142.26 assigned to them at the end of December 2015.

The markdown would peg Flipkart's valuation close to $13 billion, as compared to the $15.2 billion when it last raised capital in July 2015.

The markdown by T Rowe Price is not as drastic as Morgan Stanley, which said in a regulatory filing in February that it had valued its Flipkart's shares at $103.97 a piece down from $142.24 a piece, pegging Flipkart's valuation at $11 billion.

Flipkart is competing with US-based Amazon and local rivals like Snapdeal, Shopclues and PayTM to maintain its leadership position in the Indian e-tailing market, which Goldman Sachs projects will expand to $36 billion in 2016-17 from $11 billion in 2014-15.

Shoring up new round of funding will be key to how aggressively Flipkart is able to fend off Amazon during the festive season in last quarter of 2016, when both the players hold their flagship sale events.